Ender's Game: Beginning to End

By John Z.

Considered by some to be the quintessential science fiction book, Ender’s Game, written by Orson Scott Card, is a classic novel that details the war between humans and an alien race known as the “Buggers”. 

            The novel takes place in the future, when humans have started to explore the rest of space.  Sometime in the past, they stumbled upon an alien civilization known as the “Buggers”, and the two races have since been at war.  Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is a boy on Earth who is constantly bullied by his peers for being a third child under Earth’s two-child policy.  At home, he also has to deal with a psychopathic brother named Peter.  The only person he’s truly close to is his sister, Valentine.  After Ender stands up to a couple of bullies in school, he’s recruited by the military for “Battle School”, a program training future generations of military leaders for combat with the Buggers.  

 

            At Battle School, Ender quickly improves, and his team rises in rank, successfully prevailing against challenge after challenge the instructors orchestrate.  He is then sent to command school, where he receives instruction from a former war hero who repelled the last Bugger attack, Mazer Rackham.  There, he participates in multiple simulations against Bugger fleets.  Finally, they give him a final test, where his forces are outnumbered by Buggers.  Ender claims a decisive victory by launching a Molecular Disruption Device at the Bugger planet, destroying it.  It is then revealed to him that the simulations weren’t simulations, but the actual military forces and he had just won the war by committing genocide.  Ender eventually stumbles upon an intact Bugger cocoon, and takes the cocoon to find a place to restart the Bugger civilization and atone for his wrongdoing. 

            Ender’s Game was a truly thought provoking novel.  One of the themes explored in the novel is sacrifice for the greater good.  Throughout the story, there were multiple cases where people were forced to do things because it was for the good of humanity, and this gave the book more depth.  The only complaint I have with the story is that it’s difficult to sympathize with the characters, because the narrative seems removed somehow. 

            Overall, Ender’s Game was a great book.  Orson Scott Card manages to entwine war, politics, and drama together to create an interesting story that I strongly recommend.  I’m glad that there are several sequels to this amazing work!